Colonial, Lake Highland region champs
The Lake Highland Prep girls basketball team (23-6) is moving on to the state tournament for the sixth year in a row after a dominant 67-45 home win over Palm Bay in Friday night’s Class 4A Region 2 final.
“This was a big game for us, and everyone knew it,” Highlanders coach Al Honor said. “And this was really important to our girls.
“And what I’ve known about our girls is when it’s important to them, I know they’re going to show up and perform.”
Lake Highland, No. 1 in the FHSAA 4A power rankings, will play a semifinal game Thursday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
Two veteran guards powered the Highlanders. Junior Camila DePool scored a game-high 19 points and had a strong defensive performance. Senior Eleecia Carter scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half and made several 3-pointers.
“She’s an excellent shooter,” Honor said of Carter. “She’s a big-time player in big-time games.”
The Pirates (21-9) scored the first basket of the game after more than two minutes with no points. After that, though, the Highlanders went on a 9-0 run and never looked back. Palm Bay trailed by just six at half, but LHP kept pushing to turn the game into a rout.
Colonial wins; Edgewater falls
Colonial scored a 61-46 road victory against top seed Port Orange Spruce Creek (23-6) to win the 7A Region 1 final.
Sophya Barreiro scored 16 points and Carmen Richards had 15 for the Grenadiers.
The victory sends Colonial (21-8) to the FHSAA state tournament for the first time since a runner-up finish in 2015.
No. 1-ranked Dr. Phillips (28-1), the reigning 7A state champ, punched its return ticket with an 83-50 win over Oak Ridge in the Region 2 final.
Edgewater (23-5) lost 75-73 at home against Lake Gibson (16-10) of Lakeland in the 6A Region 2 final.
Gateway makes history
Vanessa Diaz scored a gamehigh 29 points and hot-shooting Kissimmee Gateway won the 5A Region 2 championship with a 69-40 rout of New Port Richey’s River Ridge (21-9).
The victory gives the Panthers (23-6) their first state tournament appearance. They will play a semifinal game Thursday in Lakeland.
Diaz was outstanding from beyond the arc and at the freethrow line. The Panthers’ lone senior made 6 of 8 3s and went 11-for-12 from the foul line.
“Vanessa has been here with me since I came over from Neptune
Middle School and has been the absolute backbone of our program,” coach Justin Marino said. “She is not the biggest player in the world, but she is tough as nails and her basketball IQ is off the charts.
“When your own kid plays on your team, it’s a tough thing to say, but Vanessa is my all-time favorite player that I have ever coached.”
Marino’s freshman daughter, Alyssa, also played a key role as she scored 15 points, including a pair of 3s in the first quarter that helped Gateway to a 20-9 lead. Marino’s fourth 3-pointer extended the lead to 28-10 in the second quarter.
Two first-half incidents threatened to change the momentum.
Gateway, a squad of eight that typically uses just six rotation players, had starting forward Karli Cole go down with a bruised knee midway through the second period. She did not return.
With 15 seconds to go in the half, a number of students from both schools got into shoving matches in the stands. The game was halted for about eight minutes as teachers and administrators separated and moved the students to opposite sides of the gym.
Diaz made four more 3s in the third quarter, and Malayna Stevenson added six points as the Panthers extended the lead to 30.
The Panthers were 12-for-19 on 3s and shot 54% overall (21 of 39).
Stevenson gave Gateway an inside presence and finished with 16 points.
Faith tops No. 1 CFCA
Sometimes a team just has your number. For the second time in three weeks Faith Christian — No. 6 in the FHSAA 2A power rankings — defeated No. 1 Central Florida Christian Academy.
After surprising the Eagles (20-8) in a district final, the Lions (14-11) rolled to a 61-52 win at CFCA to earn a second straight trip to the state final four.
“It just seems like we’re able to execute better and put runs together against them,” said Andy Sarasty, the Faith boys basketball coach who took over the girls program just four days before the season.
Three girls close to or taller than 6 feet gave Faith a telling size advantage.
“We usually have our threeheaded rebounding monster with Holland [Harris], Leah [Barnes] and Kylee [Kitts] all averaging more than eight boards per game,” Sarasty said. “Our game plan was to definitely use our size.”
Barnes picked up three fouls in the first quarter and had to sit until late in the third quarter. Kitts and Harris made up for Barnes’ absence. Kitts, a sophomore, scored 19 of her 26 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds. Harris had 12 points, while Aliyah Perry scored 13.
Talia Kemp led the CFCA with 22 points, while Janiyah Swift added 15 points.